The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Malus of hybrid origin and will be referred to hereafter by its cultivar name, ‘Durleo’. ‘Durleo’ is a deciduous tree grown for use as an ornamental landscape plant.
The inventor collected seeds in winter of 1990 from a single unnamed, extremely hardy Malus tree growing in a neighbor's garden in Portage 1a Prairie, Manitoba, Canada. The parent plant was planted in the early 1970s in a group of seedlings derived from open pollination of ‘Royalty’ (not patented). Many of the seedlings had been removed by 1990 due to disease. The inventor collected seeds from the surviving tree that showed the best resistance to fireblight and fungal apple scab. The resulting seedlings were grown and evaluated by the inventor at his nursery and the new cultivar, ‘Durleo’, was selected in 1992 as a single unique plant.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar was first accomplished by budding of budwood on Malus rootstock by the inventor in 1992 in Portage 1a Prairie, Manitoba, Canada The new cultivar has also been propagated under different environments in other areas of Canada and the characteristics of this cultivar have been determined to be stable and are reproduced true to type in successive generations.